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Lost divers failed to follow instructions, company says

Paul Larter in Brisbane and Lucy Bannerman

May 28 2008, 1:00am, The Times

Rescuers have called into question the claims of an experienced British diver and his American girlfriend who were winched to safety after being stranded for 19 hours in the seas off the Great Barrier Reef.

Richard Neely, 38, and Allyson Dalton, 40, who were found on Saturday, have flown to New York with a celebrity agent after selling their story to media outlets.

Mr Neely, a professional diving instructor, and Ms Dalton, a dive master, became separated from their group while diving at Paradise Lagoon. They said that they had watched their dinghy return the others to the catamaran, in an apparent repeat of the events that inspired the film Open Water, in which two divers are left to die.